The setting sun glistened on the shore. The receding tide slipped across the wet sand like linens pulled from a bed. Beach hoppers pushed through damp grains of sand, emerging from their burrows in search of washed up seaweed to feast on. Bubbles surfaced from an underwater tube. Chittering shore birds ran to and fro, chasing the tide line while greedily plucking sand crabs from the cool water.

Kai sat cross-legged, observing a lone purple sea urchin stranded in a rocky pool. The tugging tide washed grains of sand from beneath his toes, connecting him with the rhythm of the ocean. This is life, flowing with change rather than pursuing control. He breathed deeply, inhaling the aroma of salty air and closed his eyes.

Next to him, Cen fidgeted, picking at the wood of his barbed fishing spear.

“Can we go now?” Cen asked.

“No.”

Cen sighed. Kai understood, he was young once, but Cen’s lack of patience and disdain for tradition bothered him.

“Not until the first star. You know the way.”

Cen moved to protest. Kai sensed the tension in his younger brother’s body. He opened one eye and glanced sideways at the boy. Cen’s mouth, half open, closed. He resumed picking his spear until a smattering of stars pierced through the darkening sky. Kai stood. He pulled Cen up with him, gripping the boy's calloused hands in his own.

Together they looked over the ocean, and uttered the fisherman’s prayer just as their ancestors had done for generations upon this very shore.

“As we go forth beneath the light of your gaze, we ask for your blessing. Steady our hands, strengthen our lungs, and bless us with the abundance of your great bounty.”

“Now?” Cen said drawing the word out like a child pleading with his mother for a kiwi from the sweet cart. His face lit up with unbridled excitement. Kai was no longer annoyed. His hunger for adventure reminded Kai that life was for living.

“Yes” Kai replied, “Now.” Cen whooped, charging headlong into the water. Cresting waves crashed against his body, splashing water over his face until he fought past the break to where their skiff was moored. He floated there on his back, bobbing up and down in the swell of the ocean while looking back at Kai.

“What are you waiting for, morning?” Cen yelled. “Let’s go, the fish are waiting!”

Kai smiled and waded into the water.

They paddled the wooden skiff to the edge of the small cove and took harbor amidst the sprawling canopy of the kelp forest, home of their prey. Quietly, they slipped over the edge of the skiff and disappeared.

Beneath the surface, bioluminescent snails holding fast to kelp leaves pulsated like fireflies, illuminating the darkness of the underwater jungle. Cen could move through the forest like a wraith, webbed fingers and toes carving a graceful path towards the rocky sea floor. Kai allowed Cen to take the lead. It was the boy’s first night hunt. He was excited, and Kai was content to follow his younger brother’s lead.

A noisy school of Rosefin Kelpers, a diminutive species of dolphin renowned for their pinkish hue and curiosity, swam playfully next to them. Cen waved his spear at them, annoyed. The school dissipated, banking away from the spear and melted from view in between rows of kelp.

Venturing out at night when the prized Giant Wolf Eel was active, was a formidable endeavor reserved for highly skilled spearmen. Even in favorable conditions, the Eel were exceedingly rare. Still, sought after for their sweet meat and the belief that consuming it raw enhanced vitality. Cen peeked beneath every rocky outcrop with naive optimism, spear held ready to strike. Kai trailed along with no expectations, spear dangling lazily at his side, enjoying the quiet serenity and gentle pressure of the liquid embrace.

As the hours passed, Cen’s confidence waned, giving way to frustration. The boy is disappointed, Kai thought, reminding himself not to harp too much on the importance of patience and the value of experience on the walk back to the village. Kai considered how to break the news they would leave empty handed to his young brother and apprentice.

The glow of bioluminescence was fading, not just from the underwater

world but also from Cen’s once eager eyes. Sensing this shift, Kai sighed, knowing his decision and with a gentle flick of his hand, signaled a return to the surface. They broke through the water’s embrace. The night air, cool and laden with salt, brushed against their faces. Above them, the stars blinked into existence, a quiet audience to their solitude. Kai’s gaze, under the vast sky, softened around the hard edges. He smiled and nodded subtly towards the sea, “Choose our last dive, wherever your heart leads.” He could have been stern, pushing for prudence, but tonight, let the boy learn through living, not lecturing, Kai mused as they descended.

Submerged once again, Cen felt the weight of choice buoy his spirits. He swam with renewed vigor towards a dark cave—a bold move. Kai floated a careful distance behind. While the choice was risky, Kai’s demeanor remained serene, his presence a quiet affirmation of his brother’s chosen path. As Cen approached the dark maw of the cave, Kai’s instincts prickled with concern yet he restrained himself, letting Cen lead, learning from his own choices in the deep, moonlit waters. Ahead, Cen wriggled aggressively into a cave, disappearing to the waist.

Alarmed at the reckless behavior, Kai kicked hard to get to Cen. He angrily reached out to grab the foolish boy. When his hand clasped onto Cen’s ankle it was limp.

Kai cautiously pulled Cen from the cave ready for what he knew awaited. As his brother floated free of the cave, a rock snake lashed out from the darkness. Kai deftly swept his spear up, finding the vulnerable soft spot behind the serpent’s jawbone. The snake thrashed, attempting to free itself. Kai tucked his head and kicked hard, somersaulting upside down, using his momentum to redirect the spear towards the ground. He pushed the spear hard into the rocky ground until he felt the snake’s skull give way. Black blood oozed from the wound, clouding the water.

Kai scooped his brother up, wrapped the catatonic body in his long arms and kicked desperately to the surface. He struggled to wrestle the unconscious boy onto the skiff and raced for the shore; his burning muscles aching from the effort were dulled by the overwhelming anguish in his heart. What had he done?

~~~~~~

Milea, the elder shaman, looked grave. “What do you mean we have no antidote!” Kai was outraged, afraid, confused. The cave snake’s bite could be lethal, but their people had known for generations how to make harmony with its venom. Dawn crickets chirped outside of the hut, and the fading fire inside crackled softly. Cen lay next to them wrapped tightly in blankets now. A surf leech wriggled gently on his arm where the serpent had struck, a sacrifice of lesser life to slow the spread of the poison.

“I’m afraid, my child, that the trade of late has not been favorable. The Nuku have been greedier this cycle, the outsiders more daring in their theft of the forest’s bounty. We await the next Gathering to acquire more solstice fern dew.”

“The Gathering? That’s still another quarter-cycle from now...” Kai felt crushed. What have I done? “How, how long can we slow the venom?”

“With regular attention, perhaps half a moon. Kai-son, it seems a quest is calling upon you. You must venture into the jangala and find a way to bring back the dew for young Cen.” She raised a hand before he could protest, “We will take care of him Kai. This village is one, is it not?”

His heart screamed not to abandon Cen, to risk losing him while away. The other fishermen too would feel the burden of his absence.

Kai was terrified of the jangala. His family had been fishermen for generations. They had adapted to life in the water. Kai was ill-equipped physically for the perils of the jangala, a place as dangerous and alien to him as anywhere in all of Myra. What if he failed? His brother would die alone. The weight of this burden was immense.

Yet, something within him whispered that this journey was not only for Cen. Perhaps the Mother Goddess had a deeper purpose in setting these events in motion? While her ways were often mysterious, Kai had come to know her as gracious. She had not once tested him beyond what he could bear. He did not want this quest, did not want his brother’s life to be in his hands... But it was. He knew in his spirit the path ahead belonged to him alone.

Milea-sha was right. It was his duty now to find a way, for Cen, and for others who may need it. He nodded with resolve.

Kai had never ventured inland alone. Only for the Gathering, twice each cycle since he’d come of age. It would be dangerous navigating the dense jangala to make his way into one of the Great Tree villages. Still, even a fisherman was taught to understand the flora and fauna of the land.

Despite his fear, Kai’s resolve was firm. He had faith the Mother Goddess would provide an opportunity to succeed. He could not delay finding a way.

That evening, with the help of the elders, Kai prepared for his journey. Milea cut his chest with a hook blade. She collected drops of his blood, mixing it with ash and the ground leaves of Visiontendril Liana, the sacred vine, into a paste. The mixture was rubbed into the cut on his chest. A ring of chanting elders circled him, holding hands.

Kai felt a powerful rush of nausea wash over him like a crashing wave and fell to his knees clutching his stomach. His insides were a rodent in the embrace of a constricting serpent. He stared at the flying embers from the fire scattering into the night sky. Through the pain, the voices of the chanting elders became a droning wall of noise against his senses. His vision blurred and the flickering tongues of fire leaping from the burning wood cast images upon the smoke, telling the story of his quest drenched in shadows.

He saw himself fail a thousand ways; saw his brother’s rotten corpse infested with maggots, lifeforce drained like a waterjon with no plug to hold its contents. He saw the waters retreat from the shore and gather into a tidal wave that crashed down upon his village, ripping screaming children from the embrace of their mothers into the abyss. He saw the inky outline of monsters in the jangala lurking just out of sight, their hungry eyes twinkling like stars in the night sky.

The visions continued through the night. As dawn approached, Kai slowly felt himself return from the edge of madness. He opened his eyes. Milea’s face stared back at him. He felt her hot breath on his cheeks and smelled the potent betel nut juice she spat out onto the sand next to him. He wretched again, dry heaving helplessly, his stomach completely empty.

“What did you see, child?” she asked.

“I saw death.”

“Yes, there’s always death, and fear of it. What else?”

Kai thought through the fog in his mind, trying to decipher the tangled web of images and myriad possibilities.

He started to speak, but Milea covered his mouth with her hand and whispered into his ear.

“Shh, don’t speak it now boy. Your path belongs to you alone.” She pulled him up to a seated position and unrolled a reed mat in front of him containing an assortment of talismans. “Pick three only. Choose wisely. Choose quickly. Time grows short.

Kai’s eyes moved across the array of talismans, each promising aid in its

own unique way. His hand first reached for the Phial of Defense; the jungle was unforgiving, and extra protection could mean the difference

between life and death. Next, he selected a Dew Drop Vial. The energies of the jangala were draining, and he knew he would need to conserve his strength for the challenges that lay ahead. Finally, his fingers brushed against the Titanium Ring of the Forest. If legends were true, this ring would enhance his fortune in finding the elusive solstice fern dew among other hidden treasures of the jangala. With his choices made, Kai tucked the items into his pack, feeling a measure of reassurance from their presence.

~~~~~~

Birds of the morning sang their songs in the canopy. Kai collected water from a leaf the size of his torso, preparing for the next leg of his trek. He should reach L’ana Great Tree this day. He marked the sunsets on the shaft of his spear: 1, 2, 3 now. There is time. I pray I will not have to go deeper into the jangala. May the Mother deliver me. He traveled like a grazer on the forest floor, keeping himself hidden from birds and tree predators by its dense bushes. At night, he slept against heat moss, pulsing with the rhythm of the world. He steadied his heart when insects and reptiles approached, making himself uninteresting like another branch fallen from the canopy high above. Here in the jangala he did not play hunter, but gathered instead. A thousand things to avoid, a narrow few to survive. Moonberry nuts for stamina, mapleweed for clarity, and sprouts of the pervasive mothershroom for strength. He missed the flesh of fish already. Kai’s spear had remained, as he hoped it would, unused. One near-encounter with a boar he’d avoided by hiding behind a rock. This was no time for unnecessary risks.

He took a break atop a mossy hill overlooking a small clearing with matted leaves. Someone had camped there recently, and Kai wondered if he would cross paths with others as he neared L’ana. He hadn’t spoken to anyone in three days; it had been cleansing to commune so peacefully with the jangala. He felt clear and sharp and ready to complete his mission.

The sound of rustling from the canopy caught Kai’s attention. A flock of birds lifted from hiding toward the sky above and called out in warning. He stood, and then heard the snapping branches and clumsy footsteps to the east. Seconds later a man tumbled into the small clearing, followed closely by a massive Scaled Jaguar. It tried to pounce on its prey, but the man was trained and quick. He rolled and got to his feet to face the beast with the relative advantage of open space.

Kai spotted a nearby log to use as a bunker and observe. The jaguar was unusually large, and so was the man. He wore the clothes of a jungle native, and the headdress of high favor. Nuku. Certainly he would be a formidable warrior, though he appeared to have no weapon. And a scaled jaguar was not the kind of threat to be dealt with alone. Kai considered whether to intervene, or ensure his own safety.

We are all children of the Mother Goddess, Kai reminded himself. This fight had been brought before him, and it was his duty to assist. The fates of the three of them were already intertwined, and to ignore such a thing would only complicate the path.

He wriggled out from his viewpoint and stood tall on the hill, making himself known with a whistle pitched to distract the beast. The jaguar slashed and growled, nearly lopping off the warrior’s head with one swipe of its tremendous claws. Then it found Kai, and lost focus in choosing which prey to pursue. The Nuku used the opportunity to create distance and position himself close to a nearby tree. Still, the jaguar chose him and stepped closer with bared teeth.

The warrior leapt toward a branch above, flipping upside-down and latching onto it with his legs like a vice. His hands grabbed the snapping jaw of the beast and pried it open as it tried to rip him apart. Kai was unsure for a moment if it was the Nuku or the jaguar he needed to save. The Nuku’s strength was incredible.

Realizing his opportunity, Kai sprung out from hiding and dashed headlong toward the jaguar. As he ran, he quickly reached into a small pouch at his belt, his fingers closing around the Phial of Defense. The situation was desperate; he needed every advantage.

“Hold!” he called to the Nuku, hoping the warrior could maintain his grip on the jaguar’s jaws just a bit longer. With fluid motion born of urgency, Kai uncorked the phial and downed its contents in a single gulp. A silver shimmer washed over him, forming an ethereal armor that clung to his skin like a second layer. Empowered, he felt a surge of stability through his limbs, anchoring him against the forthcoming struggle.

Kai ran five steps up a trunk, his newly fortified body moving with the confidence that the magical defense bestowed. He grabbed the tree’s lowest branch and swung into the air toward the jaguar’s back. As he found a hold on its worn scales and hoisted himself up toward its fleshy nape, the beast tried to shake him off.

But the phial’s magic held firm. Despite the jaguar’s violent thrashing, Kai’s grip remained unyielding, his body moving with the tumult but not succumbing to it. The Nuku warrior caught Kai’s gaze, a shared understanding of trained hunters passing between them. As the Nuku released the creature’s jaw and swung to safety, the jaguar’s bowed head exposed the gap in the scales at the base of its skull.

Kai, bolstered by the phial’s protection, found no problem securing his footing atop its back. With a primal cry, he thrust his spear through flesh and bone, finishing the job with a twist. The formidable predator became a limp pile of flesh beneath him.

“Kyahhhaaha!” Kai’s victory cry echoed as he fell to the ground, the silver glow fading, but his triumph unmistakable. The Phial of Defense had proved its worth in the heat of battle.

~~~~~~

Smoke rose from the fire and lingered in the air around them. They shared a spirit bubble to hide from the creatures of night. Smoke rose too from Jilanu-nuku’s pipe. A wayfinder’s pipe. This Nuku whom Kai had saved, fierce as he was, was not a warrior by class but a shaman of the highest regard. A Nuku wayfinder.

“It should not have been possible for that beast to surprise me. And for my failure, its spirit must depart before its time.” Jilanu did not mourn, but he was troubled. He felt something had been interfering with his wayfinding magic for days. Mostly in brief moments of no consequence, until now. Jilanu took in the smoke and exhaled slowly.

Kai found it odd to see the man, almost twice his own considerable size, who in the light of day had held open the jaws of a scaled jaguar, sitting so calmly now as if an insect on a log. He could not help but feel a sense of reverence. Still, he had not forgotten what brought him this deep into the jangala, and he felt his resentment of the Nuku prickle in his spine. His anger entreated him to lash out across the fire to demand his needs. Instead, they prayed together for the jaguar’s spirit. They shared wild cucumber wine, and exchanged stories of fishing and hunting as the fire dimmed into the night.

Despite being protected from the dangers around him for the first night since leaving his village, Kai couldn’t sleep. He could not escape the thoughts of how to deal with Jilanu. Perhaps the Nuku could help him if they proceeded to L’ana together. Or perhaps it would be better to part wazys and avoid the distraction of bitterness toward this one who never wanted of anything. Kai had eyed the wayfinder’s satchel as they sat around the fire, too. Maybe he was even carrying the fern dew Kai needed. Or surely more valuable medicines with which he could barter. Probably meaningless to the Nuku. He would only have to sneak away with it into the night

As much as Kai longed for a straightforward way to save his brother, he knew stealing was not the answer. He watched the Nuku shaman across the flickering embers of their campfire, contemplating the providence of their meeting. Perhaps, he mused, this alliance was meant to be. Summoning his courage, Kai broke the silence. "I seek the solstice fern dew to save my brother," he confessed, revealing the urgency of his quest. "I can't explain why our paths have crossed, but it might be that the Mother Goddess intended it so. Your knowledge could be the key to what I seek. Could we not travel together? Perhaps in aiding me, you might find answers to your own mysteries." Jilanu regarded him silently for a long moment, the shadows playing across his thoughtful face. Finally, with a nod, he agreed, his curiosity piqued by the sincerity and bravery in Kai's plea—and, Kai sensed, something more the big man had yet to reveal.